Last week’s Game of Thrones episode was a rollercoaster. So many things happened, including a cup of coffee fans found during a shot in the Great Hall. Cersei not bending the knee (which was expected) and murdering Missandei in front of Dany and Greyworm. To Dany insisting she should be the heir of the Iron Throne, fully knowing Jon is the rightful heir.

And then Brienne sleeping with Jamie Lannister, leaving Tormund’s attempts rejected. Yes, it was an episode of rejection (we see you, Arya, leaving our boy Gendry like that).

However, the saddest part was Jon leaving his faithful dire wolf, Ghost, and not even petting him when he said goodbye. I mean, Ghost lost an ear while fighting during the Battle of Winterfell. Fans were not happy about this.

After all the tweets, director David Nutter explained why Jon didn’t pet Ghost, he said:

Since the direwolves are kind of CG creations, we felt it best to keep it as simple as possible. And I think that it played out much more powerfully that way.

He then added that:

Keeping Ghost off to the side, I thought that played out better. Then he just walks off by himself, he turns to Ghost and has this moment with Ghost that I thought was very, very powerful.

Credit: HBO

Then, John Bradley West, who plays Samwell Tarly, said:

I think that Jon knows what he’s leaving behind. Jon Snow is a noble man, and he knows all about sacrifice… He knows what he has to keep safe, and he knows he has a responsibility to Ghost and a responsibility to Sam, Gilly and Baby Sam because he knows where they’ll be safe.

He then continues saying that Ghost knows how much Jon cares about him:

He was very aware of the sacrifice of leaving those figures behind, and they know – hopefully, Ghost knows what he means to Jon – and Jon knows what Ghost means to him.

Kristofer Hivju, who plays Tormund Giantsbane, said that Jon knows what’s best for Ghost after the fate the other direwolves had :

I think Jon is right that the south isn’t the place for a direwolf. In Episode 2 or 3 they killed one of them [Lady, Sansa’s direwolf] – it’s a wild animal, it’s like a wolf plus two! I think it’s best for Ghost to go north.

When asked about a possibility of getting a spin-off based on Tormund and Ghost, Hivju claimed he go for it…if they’re still alive by the end of the season.

Well, there’s still two more episodes to go. We don’t know if they survive.

We can’t wait to see how the fantasy saga ends! Any thoughts on who is getting the iron throne?